August 25th, 2024

Earth-2020

For five years since the tragedy of A-Day caused Wakanda to re-isolate from the world once again, T’Challa, the current king of his home country and the current Tiger, leads his people into battle against invading AIM forces and a private army led by Talon (Ulysses Klaue), a longtime enemy of the country whose father Fritz was killed trying to steal Wakanda's precious resource vibranium. After stopping an invasion led by Toothy (Crossbones) at Wakanda's shielded capital Birnin Zana, T’Challa and his sister Shuri work with the Avengers to investigate Talon’s connection to the emergence of corrupted vibranium in Wakanda and around the world. T'Challa attempts to use Wakanda's Kimoyo network to locate Talon, but the latter hijacks and damages it before capturing and killing Shuri's research team. T'Challa orders the Wakandans to evacuate to Birnin Zana before joining the Avengers in confronting Talon at Azzuri's Temple, only for Talon to destroy it.

Upon escaping and regrouping, the heroes learn Shuri intercepted a transmission between Talon and another Penelope clone in which she reprimands Talon for prioritizing seeking revenge for his father and destroying potentially valuable information in the temple before retracting AIM’s support. In retaliation, Talon and his army storm Wakanda's vibranium mound while AIM attacks Birnin Zana. As the Avengers stop Talon’s army from corrupting the vibranium core, T'Challa fights Talon in close combat, during which the latter falls into the vibranium chambers and transforms into a being of pure sound. Now going by "Klaw", he and Toothy overpower the heroes, forcing T'Challa and Shuri to redirect energy from Birnin Zana's shields to create a wavelength capable of weakening Klaw. Toothy retreats while T'Challa and the Avengers defeat Klaw, who disintegrates. As Birnin Zana's shields are restored, T'Challa joins the Avengers in their fight against AIM and passes the throne to Shuri, making her Queen Regent of Wakanda.